Europe blacklists 66 vessels to avert another oil spill

Dec 05, 2002 01:00 AM

In the wake of the fuel oil spill from the tanker "Prestige" in November, the European Commission has published a
"black list" of 66 substandard ships that would be banned from European waters under forthcoming European maritime
safety rules. The list includes gas and chemical tankers, bulk carriers, oil tankers and passenger ships flying the
flags of 13 countries that have been detained more than once in European Union ports for safety reasons in the past
three years.

Of the 66 blacklisted vessels, Turkey has 26 on the list, more than any other country. St Vincent & Grenadines is
next with 12 ships, then comes Cambodia with nine substandard vessels.
Algeria, Panama, and Sao Tome and Principe each have three ships on the list; Bolivia, Egypt, and Romania each have
two; and Honduras, Lebanon, Morocco, and Syria each have one. Such a list was part of a wide ranging maritime safety
package put together after the sinking of the Erika oil tanker off the French coast in December 1999. The Commission
has brought forward its release date from mid-2003.

Danish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic and Business Affairs Bendt Bendtsen will chair a Council
meeting of the EU Ministers responsible for maritime affairs, who will meet in order to agree on tougher safety
regulations for oil tankers. The Danish EU Presidency aims to reach an agreement on new effective initiatives towards
single hulled tankers, tougher government control in port, agreements with the shipping companies and emergency
ports.
Danish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Economic and Business Affairs Bendt Bendtsen "I would like to express
my deepest concern over the serious accident of the oil tanker ‘Prestige.’ I would like to emphasise that
stronger safety measures as regards maritime accidents is an important issue, which the EU has to deal with,"
Bendtsen said.

The swiftly produced package of emergency measures will be sent for approval to the European Parliament and to the
European Council, which is meeting soon in Copenhagen. The Commission is also proposing a regulation banning the
transport of heavy fuel oil in single-hulled oil tankers bound for or leaving EU ports. Although single-hulled
tankers are being phased out progressively by 2015, the Commission is seeking approval from the European Council for
this specific ban to apply immediately, in a bid to avoid a repeat of the Prestige disaster.
In addition, the EU executive wants to resurrect a proposal to impose a penalty on any individual causing a pollution
incident through negligence. This measure was included in the draft Erika package and approved by the European
parliament, but subsequently dropped by the council.

Member states are being urged to speed up implementation of existing and forthcoming EU rules on maritime safety
outlined in the Erika packages, without waiting for their official deadlines. In particular, the Commission is
pressing member states to recruit sufficient inspectors to be able to check 25 % of ships calling at EU ports, in
line with current legislation.
France and Spain signed a bilateral agreement to inspect all single-hulled vessels more than 15 years old and
carrying any substance that could pose a threat to their coastlines. Greenpeace volunteer picks his way across an
oily Galician beach. The Commission has already accelerated the planned creation of a European Maritime Safety
Agency, provisionally set up in Brussels, with the first meeting of its administrative board taking place. The
appointment of its executive director is scheduled for January 2003.

Work is also advanced on SafeSeaNet, an EU wide vessel monitoring system that will provide real time information on
the identity and location of ships. "Words are not enough: it is necessary to act and apply the maritime safety
measures in full. Safety is the responsibility of everyone, and strict application of all the measures is the only
way of ensuring that substandard ships do not fall through the safety net" said Loyola de Palacio, European
vice-president with special responsibility for transport and energy.
"We also need to thoroughly amend the international rules, in particular in terms of criminal and financial
liability," she said. "However, only by speaking with one voice within the International Maritime Organization (IMO)
can we have a bigger say."

At IMO headquarters in London, maritime security issues and bulk carrier safety are high on the agenda of IMO's
Maritime Safety Committee. The Committee is expected to establish a working group to review submissions by
governments and international organizations on the various formal safety assessment studies on bulk carrier safety
which are now completed.
The Committee is expected to review the preliminary list of 25 recommendations for decision making established at the
last session, with a view to drawing up a definitive list of recommendations for regulatory action.

The Committee will review hull envelope issues such as double hull and side-skin construction, improved coatings,
steel repair standards, corrosion margins of hold frames, forecastles, bulwark/breakwater structures, ballast system
capacity, protection of foredeck fittings, strength and corrosion control of hold frames, and coating of internal
side skins.
The Committee will review the progress report on the draft Guidelines on places of refuge for ships in need of
assistance, an issue that is highlighted in view of the "Prestige" sinking. The Guidelines state what actions should
be taken by ships' Masters, coastal States and Flag States in cases where ships are in need of assistance. They also
recommend the establishment by coastal States of Maritime Assistance Services to be mobilized in relevant cases.

The IMO's work on places of refuge followed an incident involving the fully laden tanker "Castor" which, in December
2000, developed a structural problem in the Mediterranean Sea.
IMO Secretary-General William O'Neil suggested that the time had come for the organization to undertake, as a matter
of priority, a global consideration of the problem of places of refuge for disabled vessels and adopt any measures
required in the interests of safety of life at sea and environmental protection.

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